When a 90-year-old Greenbrae man fought off a burglar in a gunfight, public interest was intense.

But when the same burglar filed a personal-injury lawsuit against the victim, the story nearly crashed web servers.

The suit against Jay Leone generated more than 308,000 page views at www.marinij.com, making it by far the website's most-read story of 2012. The figure does not include thousands of additional hits from phone and tablet apps.

By comparison, the website's No. 2 story for the year logged about 82,000 page views. That story, also about the Greenbrae case, covered Leone's testimony about his gun battle with the 30-year-old burglar, Samuel Cutrufelli, who has since been convicted.

Leone, informed of the year-end distinction, said people often stop to talk to him when he is out in public.

"Everybody that see me in the street recognizes me," said Leone, a World War II veteran with a gun collection. "They say, 'Oh, you're the hero!' Every time I go grocery shopping or get gas."

The third most-read web story of 2012 was the filing of criminal charges against Max Wade, the San Rafael teenager charged with trying to kill two other teens in Mill Valley over a romantic rivalry. Wade is also awaiting trial on charges he stole a $200,000 Lamborghini that belonged to celebrity chef Guy Fieri.

No. 4 was the story of Lucasfilm revoking its development plans for Grady Ranch. No. 5 was the story of Gary Yost, who created a majestic nature video about life at the Mount Tamalpais fire lookout station.

Yost said he started the project as a recruitment video for other volunteer fire lookouts, but when he realized he had captured some of the mountain's special qualities, he knew people in Marin would especially appreciate it.

"She's probably the primary reason people come and live here," said Yost, a Mill Valley photographer. "Such a magnetic personality and source of healing for people."